<p>LOL, but realistically, NYU has a great international reputation. People think its prestigious. Its what the majority think that usually counts. Unfortunately.</p>
<p>To be all honesty, even I do bash NYU’s FA policy a lot, NYU is not overated as a school. It has its position in the acadamic and professional world. However, we have to define the word “overate” to its context. To call a school overated is just oversimplification. Overate to what? In most cases, we are talking about its prestige/acadamic achievements to the COA, on that front, we can call NYU is under the shadow of Columbia, which is on the same scale of COA but a better school in all respects. OTOH, NYU is an internationally well regarded school, its lot better than most schools in the Nation, if we discount the COA factor.</p>
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<p>When was this?</p>
<p>It’s difficult to call NYU “overrated” at its current USNWR rank but its true that many people want to go there and hold it to higher regard because of its location in New York.</p>
<p>"When was this? "
Data was classes entering 1970 or 1971, source Cass & Birnbaum college guide of the day.</p>
<p>"A few years ago, when D1 was considering transfering out of Oberlin, she was considering NYU and said that NYU was considered more prestigious by her peers. There have been others on CC who have transfered from Oberlin to NYU, presumably they did not feel they were going down the prestige ladder to do so.So let’s just say this is, at least, less clear now than previously. Though at one time, and for a long time, it was certainly and obviously the case. "</p>
<p>Back when I was attending high school, NYU was considered a safety school for rich students who had really low SAT scores(less than 1200/1600) and B-/B averages. Didn’t help that around 1/3 of my graduating class were accepted there and the vast majority who accepted NYU’s offer were bitter about being rejected from more prestigious schools…including some Stern kids. </p>
<p>Also, there were kids who were transferring from Oberlin to NYU back when I was in undergrad…though it was always the same reasons why some classmates transferred from Oberlin to BC/BU/NEU, one of the lower ranking UCs, or UT-Austin. It was mainly a desire for a more exciting location compared to rural Oberlin and/or a desire for a school with a perceived lower academic workload. And back then, it was considered a considerable drop in the prestige ladder…especially among high school peers/teachers or various Ivy profs and employers I’ve encountered. </p>
<p>Nowadays, I heard the drop is not as great. However, it is really sad when every NYU graduate I’ve met, including several who graduated within the last 3-5 years have emphatically said considering the quality of academic advising, bureaucracy, class sizes, and graduation debtload they’ve had to dealt with, they would not go to NYU if they had a chance to redo everything. They also said I made the smart choice by turning down NYU’s miserly offer for a near-full ride to Oberlin which allowed me to graduate debt-free.</p>
<p>…And when I was applying, NYU was even worse than that, its admission rate was in the 70% range. But times have changed. It is easier for such students to consider transfer now, for all those prior reasons you gave and additionally there is no material prestige gap to speak of now, at least not a negative one.</p>
<p>I agree with your reported characterization of NYU, I went to graduate school there. I would not have cared to attend for undergrad. But some people feel otherwise.</p>
<p>" …And when I was applying, NYU was even worse than that, its admission rate was in the 70% range. But times have changed. It is easier for such students to consider transfer now, for all those prior reasons you gave and additionally there is no material prestige gap to speak of now, at least not a negative one."</p>
<p>While the pool of entering students have higher stats than when my high school peers and I were applying to/attended college, even the recent NYU graduates are complaining of the same academic, financial, and administrative problems that plagued NYU undergrads 15-25 years ago. I’ve also noticed that the more recent NYU graduates are much more infuriated about this than the NYU graduates from my high school peer group. That’s saying a lot considering the latter group were constantly ranting and complaining about those very issues even back when we were undergrads.</p>
<p>If NYU wants to maintain their upward momentum, they really need to address the lack of FA/scholarship money provided for working/middle class students. Else they will continue to be dogged by the reputation NYU is only for those from independently wealthy families or those bold/foolhardy enough to risk high debt loads to attend.</p>
<p>“NYU is good for grad school, but their undergraduate programs are nothing special. There is no prestige for an NYU undergrad degree. However, you get to live in NYC for four years, which is great.”</p>
<p>Wow really? I’m sure most if not all employers, especially in the NYC area, would beg to differ. It may not be an Ivy, but to say there is no prestige to an undergraduate degree from NYU is ludicrous. It has become a very selective school. Sure Tisch and Stern are the well-known gems, but getting into CAS, Gallatin, and Steinhardt is no walk in the park either, and they all offer some very well-regarded programs. In this light, I agree that NYU is large and can be impersonal, but I will not say it is overrated. I’d say the weight of an NYU undergraduate degree is similar to that of Michigan, BC, UNC, UVA, even if it comes at a higher cost.</p>
<p>cobrat: I completely agree. Addressing FA/scholarship money is an absolute priority at this point. This the basis for a happy student body. The fact that the administration wants to pour money into expanding so our square footage per student is on par with Columbia, Yale, etc is completely backward. Who cares about that stuff?!?!!</p>
<p>^ It is a good school, but I think you are confusing “good” with “prestigious.” NYU is good, but it is not prestigious.</p>
<p>^I don’t think the two are necessarily at odds with one another, and thus don’t see how I’m confusing good and prestigious. Yes, there are a couple dozen or so schools out there that are better and/or more prestigious, but relative to the majority of schools in the United States and around the world, NYU is both very good and prestigious. If Harvard, Yale and Princeton are the only prestigious schools out there, fine. NYU isn’t prestigious, but in this day and age, such is not the case.</p>
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for a second I thought you were describing USC. EXACTLY the same. If NYU want to be in the low 20s where USC currently resides (from the mid 70s or 80s just 25 years ago), then they will need to pay NMSFs 50% tuition grant as USC does. There is no better way to boost SAT and GPA than with scholarship monies.</p>
<p>“In this light, I agree that NYU is large and can be impersonal, but I will not say it is overrated. I’d say the weight of an NYU undergraduate degree is similar to that of Michigan, BC, UNC, UVA, even if it comes at a higher cost.”</p>
<p>I’m not too sure of that for 2 reasons.</p>
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<li><p>From what I heard from employers and Ivy Profs who deal with grad admissions, NYU has made a lot of strides, but has not quite caught up with UMich, UVA, or UNC in terms of perceived undergrad prestige for employers and grad school admissions. If NYU makes efforts to fix their bureaucracy, FA situation, etc…then they may match or even exceed those schools in a decade or two. </p></li>
<li><p>Even back when I was in high school in the '90s, NYU was considered more prestigious academically than BC. BC was seen by many high school classmates as being too sports oriented with associated stereotypes of party-hearty students even though they have many strong academic departments. It also doesn’t help that their undergrad science and business programs weren’t seen as strong as NYU’s.</p></li>
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<p>We must have gone to college around the same time when the only people who attended NYU were those who did not have the grades/SAT scores to get into Baruch, Hunter, City or Queens College.</p>
<p>With the exception of the grad schools, Tisch and Stern, NYU is really overrated and not in the least bit student centered.</p>